WMG's general counsel is Paul Robinson. Former WMG general counsel David Johnson, who spent nine years as the legal chief for Sony Music Entertainment, serves as chairman of WMG unit Warner/Chappell Music, one of the world's largest music publishing companies. WMG is one of the world's largest recording companies and ranks third in U.S. market share behind Universal Music Group and Sony. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is serving as regulatory counsel to WMG on its sale.

Debevoise & Plimpton is advising Access on the deal. Jeffrey Rosen, cochair of Debevoise's M&A practice, is leading a team from the firm that includes corporate partner and leveraged finance chair David Brittenham, finance partner Pierre Maugue, employee benefits partner Elizabeth Pagel Serebransky, M&A partner William Regner, and tax partner David Schnabel. SEC filings show that Debevoise has previously done work for multinational chemical company LyondellBasell Industries, created by Blavatnik through a merger in 2007. The company emerged from bankruptcy last year. The general counsel for New York-based Access is Alejandro Moreno.

Also announced this week was the purchase of social movie service Flixster and movie review site Rotten Tomatoes by former WMG sibling Warner Brothers Entertainment (WBE). The Time Warner subsidiary reportedly spent $80 million to acquire Flixster, which is the parent company of Rotten Tomatoes, and another $20 million in bonuses to hold on to top executives.

O'Melveny & Myers M&A partner Andor Terner, employee benefits partner Jeff Walbridge, labor and employment partner Adam Karr, and tax partner Robert Blashek III are leading a team from the firm advising WBE on the transaction, according to The Recorder. Also working on the deal was WBE deputy general counsel Mark Easton, who joined the company last month from O'Melveny.